EDINBURG — More than 8,000 H1N1 vaccines will expire by the end of May in Hidalgo County as its response to the global flu pandemic winds down.

A d v e r t i s e m e n t

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On the April 26 anniversary where the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention revealed that they had identified a novel flu strain that was widely referred to as swine flu, the Hidalgo County Health Department is finishing a slate of vaccination clinics that will last through next month.

By June, when the county’s doses of the nasal vaccine reach their expiration date, the county’s response to the first flu pandemic in 40 years will mostly be complete, said Eddie Olivarez, the director of the Hidalgo County Health Department. State funding for the response ends in July while antibodies for swine flu will be folded into this fall’s seasonal flu shot.

In the time since the H1N1 vaccine became available in October, the Hidalgo County Health Department vaccinated more than 36,000 people, not including vaccinations by the private sector, Olivarez said. The vaccination drive that H1N1 generated was one of the largest of its kind.